Synopsis Of Laurel & Hardy Films (continued)

This list is not put forward as exhaustive. All the main films are here though, with a brief description to jog your memory if you’ve seen it, or whet your appetite if not.
This page is Helpmates to Atoll K (1932-1952)
Return to page one for Lucky Dog to On The Loose (1917-1931)

You can click on the Quote icon to see a quote or click on the Picture icon to view a picture for a particular film.
Ollie has had a big party while Mrs Hardy was away and recruits Stan to help him clean up before her imminent reappearance. Stan systematically ruins every suit that Ollie owns, then burns the house down while Ollie goes to collect his wife. Full of lovely touches, this is Laurel and Hardy at their best: inventive, subtle, charming and understated, a plot-line that nobody cares about and wonderful company to be in.
Stan and Ollie are down on their luck and make an enemy out of Walter Long, which means they cannot even return to their lodgings. When Ollie hears of the reward for entering a boxing contest he sportingly enters Stan. They discover it is against their nemesis Walter and Stan is given the chance to display a boxing style unique to himself.
Oscar winner for Best Comedy Short. The Laurel & Hardy Transfer Co. ('foundered 1931') have to deliver a piano. Things are never that simple of course, and the house to deliver the piano to is at the top of a hill with an amazingly long staircase going all the way up. Numerous attempts are made, always ending with the seemingly indestructible piano sliding back to the bottom again. Naturally, various passers-by (including Billy Gilbert as Professor Theodore von Schwarzenhoffen, M.D., A.D., D.D.S., F.L.D., F., F., F. and F.) are sucked into the building disaster, but they eventually get the piano to the top. All that remains now is for the Boys to destroy the house.
Laid off by a bankrupt circus, Stan and Ollie are paid with ’assets’ by ringmaster Fin: Stan gets the flea circus, Ollie a trained chimp. Their landlord Billy Gilbert allows no pets so they have to sneak them in. Once inside, they cause various problems. The fact that the chimp shares her name with the landlord’s wife also causes several misunderstandings through overhearing.
Ollie is in hospital, but the real trouble has yet to come - Stan is visiting. Through various good-intentions backfiring, Ollie suffers greatly, along with Doctor Billy Gilbert who discharges him on the spot. Stan drives Ollie home, though having sat on a hydodermic needle full on anaesthetic, his driving leaves a little to be desired.
In court for vagrancy, Stan and Ollie are given a couple of hours to get out of town. They hurry away but meet Arthur Housman, who, funnily enough, has been drinking. They help him find his keys and get him home, but he has lost the front door key. No problem, Stan and Ollie will break in. Arthur invites them to stay the night so they make themselves at home. Arthur then meets the butler who informs him that this is not his house and he should leave, which he does. By this time Stan and Ollie have met the lady of the house, Vivien Oakland. All three drink large amounts of alcohol which they believe to be water and have a fairly good time. Cue the return of the real owner of the house, Stan and Ollie’s friendly judge.
During the war, Stan and Ollie become good friends with Eddie, who tells them about his little girl, living with friends until he gets out. When he is killed in action they decide to reunite the girl with her grandparents, which is what Eddie would have wanted. Finding the grandparents is tricky and causes plenty of problems, but the girl is quite happy living with them and a good time is had by all. A visit from the social services means they will have to give her up so they run. While trying to borrow money from the bank to take care of things, they inadvertently steal the money and are arrested. Luckily, the bank manager turns out to be the grandfather they were looking for.
Ollie has marital problems and Stan is involved. He has an idea to fix things, however: bring home a baby. Ollie tries it, only to find Mrs Hardy (Mae) has already gone. He and Stan have a tearful exchange direct from a family drama ("Well, you should of thought of that before we had the baby") then proceed to try and look after it. The house suffers a fair amount and so does Ollie.
Stan and Ollie are fish salesmen. Stan has an idea - why not catch the fish themselves ? They decide to buy a cheap boat and renovate it. Ollie goes through a fair amount of pain during the renovations and is eventually driven to locking Stan in the boat where he can do no more harm. He still can of course. Much later, the boat is ready, but is too heavy for their truck to tow. Stan has an idea - why not put the sail up? A gust of wind and neither the boat or the truck survive.
Stan and Ollie are married to each other's sister - also played by themselves, displaying remarkably similar attributes. It is their joint anniversary and a celebration meal is planned. The two girls do not get on though and a war of words breaks out culminating in Charlie Hall's cake delivery being hand delivered.
Ollie is getting married. Stan is best man. On the morning of the wedding he presents Ollie with his wedding present - a jigsaw puzzle. Before the taxi arrives Stan just has time to put a few pieces together. Ollie waits impatiently but becomes interested despite himself. The cab arrives and he too, just has time to put a few pieces in. And so it goes on, with policemen and passers-by all drawn in by the hypnotic jigsaw. Fights break out. The bride's father, Fin, gets increasingly more enraged, particularly as Stan sent a wreath instead of flowers. Looks like he'll have to go and see what the hold up is himself.
Fra Diavolo is a legendary highwayman, robbing the rich and keeping the money. Stan and Ollie decide to go into the same business, since it seems straightforward. They purport to be the said Diavolo but pick the highwayman himself as their first victim. He relents on his initial plan to hang them and keeps them as servants. His current project is to obtain the riches of Fin and his wife, Thelma Todd. He stays in the same inn as them, to try and work his magic on Thelma. Eventually he succeeds and Thelma shrieks that she has been robbed. The blame falls on a young sergeant who is courting the inn-keepers daughter. He resolves to find the real Diavolo to clear his name. Helpfully, Stan and Ollie, on pain of death not to reveal Diavolo's identity, do so. Diavolo is caught and Stan and Ollie live to walk into another disaster. A storyline complex enough to care about, with songs interspersed and comedy routines nicely paced and woven in.
Stan and Ollie are policemen, investigating a crime. A burglary is taking place. They try to get into the house to catch the fiend inside. It takes a while but they get there. It turns out of course, to be the Police Chief's house.
The boys work in a saw mill. Not much work gets done but plenty of destruction takes place and Ollie suffers a fair amount. Not even their car survives.
Stan and Ollie have to sweep the chimney of a mad professor. The room with the fireplace is soon destroyed, along with parts of the roof, Ollie's sanity and an over-flying goose. The professor's new discovery of an age-reducing serum is investigated by the Boys but when Stan tries to help, Ollie is pushed into a vat of the serum by mistake.
Stan and Ollie have to go their society's convention but Mrs Hardy (Mae) won't let Ollie go. Stan has more luck with his wife (Dorothy Christie) but Ollie needs a plan. He will pretend to be ill, Stan will arrange a doctor to come round and recommend a trip to Honolulu. All goes to plan and Mae swallows the story from Stan's hired veterinarian that Ollie must go away. The Boys go to California and enjoy their convention meeting a guest, Charlie Chase while they are there. Meanwhile, the return ship from Honolulu sinks. Mae and Dorothy anxiously wait for news, ill with worry. They go to a cinema to try and take their minds of it and see news footage of the convention, with Stan and Ollie featured prominently. Meanwhile the Boys have returned home. They read the paper and realise what has happened. They must leave and return tomorrow with good stories. However, the wives are already on their way up the path so the Boys hide in the loft. The plan now is to slide down the drainpipe, change their clothes in the garage and walk back in with a good story. An altercation with the law doesn't help but they manage a rough approximation of this. By this time the wives have had a bet that their returning husbands will break down and tell them the truth with coercion. Ollie launches into his story of the wreck with Stan contributing ("we ship-hiked our way home"). Mae tries to get Ollie to confess but he sticks to the story. Dorothy tries it with Stan who doesn't. Stan returns home to be treated like a king, while Ollie is faced with a fuming Mae. In my opinion the best combination of story, comedy, songs and players. A classic for so many reasons.
Looking from an escape from their day to day drudge as barbers, Stan and Ollie both reply to a millionairess's advert in the paper for a companion. Ollie only posts his, however, and on receiving his reply, bids goodbye to Stan and heads off to join his prospective bride. Stan later finds his letter hidden in the shop and storms after Ollie. Ollie finds the lady (Mae) to be a little mad and her butler even stranger. It turns out that Mae was once dumped by an Oliver and devotes her life to seeking them out and cutting their throats. Stan and Ollie have no choice but to stay. They decide that one of them will always keep awake to protect the other. However, Stan manages to lock himself in the cupboard with the only gun whilst Ollie falls foul of an ingenious contraption he devised to ensure Stan stayed awake.
Stan and Ollie's informing on Walter Long does not endear them to him and as he is sentenced he swears revenge. Stan and Ollie look to head out of town as quickly as possible and advertise for a companion to share costs. Mae answers and they go to see her. Unfortunately she is Walter's girlfriend and he has escaped and run to her. On hearing a knock at the door he hides in a trunk but when it turns out to be only Stan and Ollie she asks if her friend can come along too. Stan and Ollie are happy with this, but Walter is by now stuck in the locked trunk. They spend a lot of time trying to get him out and eventually manage it, at which point Walter gets his revenge.
Oliver is suffering from gout (Dr Fin:"too much high living" - Stan: "Maybe we'd better move into the basement, if it affects your foot…"). They are recommended by Doctor Fin to go into the mountains for a while. They hire a caravan and do just that. Meanwhile holiday makers Charlie Hall and Mae Busch run out of petrol. Charlie goes to fetch some more while Mae waits with Stan and Ollie. Accidentally drinking a large amount of alcohol which they believe to be well water, they all get drunk, which annoys Charlie on his return. A systematic destruction of each other's property soon begins.
Stan and Ollie live in Toyland with the Old Woman in the Shoe, who is being thrown out by the evil Barnaby, who is also after the charming Bo Peep (Charlotte Henry). The Boys must find the money to pay off the mortgage on the Shoe and also rescue Toyland from the evil Bogeymen. A strange film which seems a good idea but doesn't really work. Some wonderful 'business' from Stan and Ollie but the components do not gel together. A row between Hal Roach and Stan over how the film should be made may not have helped.
Walter Long is searching for recruits for his ship, which has a reputation for being haunted. However, it is not wise to mention this to Walter. Stan and Ollie help to recruit by taunting sailors and knocking them unconscious. However, they get dragged on board as well. While everyone else is on leave they stay on board ship (where they have the Captain's protection against the sailors). Arthur Housman also nips out to have a drink, but without anyone knowing, since he is forbidden to do so. Stan and Ollie accidentally shoot the lumps in the bed that are supposed to be Arthur and think they have killed him. When Arthur trips into a tub of whitewash on the way home, his reappearance naturally makes the boys think of ghosts. Walter returns and the boys must not mention that word. Also features Mae as Walter's girlfriend and Housman's long lost wife.
A sequel short to Them Thar Hills. Stan and Ollie open a store opposite Charlie Hall's grocery shop. Ollie renews an acquaintance with Mae and Charlie is annoyed. And so it begins, Stan and Ollie destroy Charlie's shop while he watches quietly, then they wait while he takes his turn. Neither do much business.
Stan and Ollie are selling greeting cards. Arthur Housman takes one, but a later customer, Mae is too upset. They offer to help with whatever the problem is. He problem is her husband (Charles Middleton) doesn't love her any more. Stan has an idea - Ollie could kiss her in front of her husband, the husband would get jealous and realise how much he loved her. They try it. The husband is jealous and challenges Ollie to a duel, exchanging cards with him. The boys retire to an inn to think about things. It's no problem, they just won't turn up for the fight. They make an insulting phone call to him for good measure. Arthur Housman arrives and they all get drunk. The only address the police can find on Ollie is that on the card he was given so they take him back to Mae's house. They beat an undignified exit.
Ollie has marital problems with Daphne Pollard which are not helped when he and Stan accidentally spend all the Hardy's money on a grandfather clock, which gets destroyed. With landlord Fin eager for rent, things don't look good and Ollie's reunion with his wife sees him end up in hospital. Things are bad and a blood transfusion is needed from Stan. The blood gets all mixed up, however, and they end up with each other's characteristics.
Stan and Ollie journey to Scotland to pick up an inheritance, only to discover that the inheritance is a meer box of snuff. Having made a friend en route they follow him in joining the Army and, despite crossing Sergeant Fin, manage to help their friend get the girl he loves.
Stan and Ollie are part of a group of travelling gypsies. When Count Arnheim throws them off his grounds, the group swears revenge. Ollie is having marital problems with his wife (Mae Busch) and when her lover is thrashed by Arnheim's soldiers she steals the Counts only daughter, Arlene, telling Ollie that it is his. While Ollie and Stan are parading the little girl around the camp, Mae takes all Ollie's money and runs off with her lover. The boys are forced to return to their livelihood of pickpocketing. Arlene grows up and many years later they camp in the same grounds again. While off exploring Arlene stumbles into Count Arnheim's castle and is captured by the guards. Stan and Ollie attempt to rescue her but they too are caught. Just as Arlene is about to be whipped, Count Arnheim recognises the necklace she wears and realises she is his long lost daughter. A wonderful combination of comedy, music, story and spectacle. Contains the wine-bottling sequence where Stan gets drunk with home-brewed wine.
Comedy short about a vacation trip which doesn't quite go according to plan. Charley Chase sets off for California with his wife (Rosina Lawrence) and mother-in-law. On the way, they pass a number of hitch-hikers two of which are Stan & Ollie each thumbing in different directions. Charlie thinks they look like a 'couple of horse thieves' and keeps driving eventually losing both his car and clothes to a bunch of real thieves.
Stan and Ollie play their own twin brothers in one long case of mistaken identity. Both are married, but the wives keep mixing them up with their twin brothers. The real Stan and Ollie are, for the majority of the film, unaware that their brothers are in town or even alive and are mystified by the accusations of their wives, bartenders, sailor James Finlayson and most of the people in the town. Beyond that, the plot is far too contrived to even attempt to summarise.
Stan and Ollie have been entrusted to deliver the inherited deed of a goldmine to Mary Roberts (Rosina Lawrence). She is currently working for unscrupulous inn-keeper James Finlayson and his wife (Sharon Lynne). When Stan unwittingly tells all to Fin, a plot is hatched and Fin presents his wife as Mary. The Boys hand over the deed and prepare to leave. They then meet the real Mary Roberts on leaving and go back to retrieve the deed. Unfortunately they have already annoyed the local sheriff and he orders them out of town. They sneak back later to grab the deed and rescue Mary. Another wonderful feature containing many delights, the most famous of which is the "Trail of the Lonesome Pine".
A fairly traditional romance with Rosina Lawrence winning a trip to Hollywood and stardom under the guidance of an organiser who is determined to make her a star. Laurel & Hardy play themselves in two long sequences both of which are a delight to watch. In the first sequence, the Boys dressed as mexican bandits swagger into a saloon where everyone starts to quake. Everyone that is except resident tough guy Walter Long with whom they they have a typical western brawl. After this scene, they demonstrate to the audience how the props fall apart when used. Unfortunately, the Boys get carried away a bit too much and end up knocking each other out with the real thing. In the second sequence, the Boys compete to play musical instruments with Ollie swallowing a tin whistle which Stan manages to play by poking Ollie in the stomach.
Mousetrap salesmen in Switzerland, Ollie and Stan demonstrate their product in a hotel but it goes badly wrong. They are forced to pay off their damage by working in the kitchens and during this time they manage to unwittingly iron out marriage problems between an arguing couple staying at the hotel. Swiss Miss contains several wonderful moments including the scene where Stan tries to get the whisky off a Saint Bernard, where he and Ollie carry a piano across a rope bridge and Ollie's serenade of "Let me call you Sweetheart," to a bemused Della Lind.
Stan and Ollie serve together in the war but are separated. Years later, Stan is discovered still manning his trench, unaware that the war was over. Ollie reads about it and goes to the war retirement home to have Stan come and live with him. After a misunderstanding regarding Stan's leg, they go home and demolish Ollie's flat. Various complications with wives and girlfriends lead to women hiding in trunks and a repeat of the ending of Unaccustomed As We Are.
Jilted by the girl he loves, Ollie decides to commit suicide, taking Stan with him. A passer-by who turns out to be the girls' fiance persuades them both to join the foreign legion in order to forget about the girl. Familiar troubles ensue ending with Fin keeping them in jail overnight to be shot at dawn (Stan: "I hope it's cloudy tomorrow"). They escape by stealing an aeroplane which eventually crashes. Stan survives, but Ollie dies immediately being reincarnated as a horse.
Having unwittingly foiled a bank robbery, the Boys are offered any reward they want. They choose an education at Oxford University. After the usual pranks of being given the Dean's room and getting lost in the maze, Stan receives a blow to the head which makes him take on the persona of Lord Paddington, a thoroughly english genius. Ollie is engaged as his servant, much to his displeasure. Ollie eventually rebels, leading to another blow on the head for Stan, who reverts to his normal behaviour.
While working at a horn factory, Ollie develops 'hornophobia', where the sound of horns brings him into a violent rage. Recommended by Doctor Fin to take a sea trip, the Boys prefer to hire a boat and spend time on it safely tethered to the harbour. Unfortunately, escaped convict Rychard Cramer hides on board and sets it loose. Commanded by Cramer to make him dinner, they find they have no food and do the best with what household items are available. Cramer is wise to this, however, and makes them eat it. Eventually Ollie tells Stan to play his trombone. On doing so, Ollie is transformed into a fighting champ and starts to attack Cramer. While half-way through his demolition of the tough guy, Stan's trombone falls apart. He manfully tries to repair it while Ollie fends off the recovering Cramer. Eventually the trombone is fixed and Cramer is defeated. The police arrive to take him away. Stan plays the trombone to show how it was done and Ollie is arrested for assaulting the police.
The first of the Boy's disappointing films for 20th Century Fox sets the trend for providing Stan & Ollie with standard material in which they were not allowed to provide any creative input. This feature casts Stan & Ollie as retainers to a playboy millionaire. They all join the army but the laughs are few and far between.
This feature served mainly as a vehicle for Dante the Magician and understandably the Boys lack of enthusiasm for the material they were given to work with was plain for all to see.
One of the few available colour films of Laurel & Hardy, this was a short one reeler made to highlight the importance of wood pulp during the war. Pete Smith provides narration for the Boys antics which are timed to respond to the dialogue.
Marginally better than the previous 20th Century Fox efforts, Stan & Ollie play air raid wardens who manage to thwart an attempt by a Nazi spy to sabotage a Magnesium plant. Laurel & Hardy regular Edgar Kennedy made a welcome appearance as the removal man and former Roach associate Charles Rogers contributed to the script.
By far the best of the mediocre Fox series of films, Jitterbugs benefitted from a larger budget and a new leading lady, Vivian Blaine. The Boys are unwittingly invited by a con-man to join him in making some money but end up getting involved with a group of villains out to steal the heroine's cash.
The Boys own the 'Arthur Hurry' School Of Dancing with Stan teaching ballet and Ollie a folk dance. After an insurance scam backfires, Ollie tries to find other ways of raising money to help a young inventor win his sweetheart.
The Big Noise is usually regarded as the worst of the Fox movies. The inventor of a bomb requires a couple of guards for his new invention. Janitors Stan & Ollie decide to masquerade as detectives and offer to escort the inventor and his bomb to a test site. Stan manages to sit on the detonator before they are ready and with enemy agents in tow, the Boys have to find a way of disposing of the offending bomb.
Descended from a long line of butlers and chefs, the Boys are employed by a high society estate to serve an exiled boy-king targetted for assassination.
Arriving in Mexico on the trail of a lady criminal, detectives Laurel & Hardy are involved in a case of mistaken identity when a matador who looks exactly like Stan fails to turn up for his scheduled bull fight.
The last cinema appearance of the Boys, Atoll K places Stan & Ollie on an island which they inherit. They set about trying to create the perfect environment with little success. Stan was dreadfully ill during the shooting of the film and it plainly showed. Despite this, he managed to complete the project through sheer professionalism and later told his biographer John McCabe that he regretted doing so.
Return to page one for Lucky Dog to On The Loose (1917-1931).
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